Device for displaying advertisements



E. momma. I DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING ADVERTISEMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN 4, I921.

Patented 001;. 31, 1922.

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To all who 21bit may concern Be it known that Enwnnn ALnnRr THORNE, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Leatherhead, county of Surrey, England, have invented a certainnew and useful Improvement in a Device for Displaying Advertisements, of which the following, is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved device for displaying advertisements, and procuring alterations and changing effects by mechanical means, the objects being to in crease the attractive character 01 the advertisements, and to exhibit a number of separate advertisements consecutively within a given space.

i he said. invention relates to that type of apparatus wherein three-sided or other rollers or fiat slats arranged parallel and side by side are caused to partially rotate intermittently so as to expose one set oi? their fiat faces on which a complete scene, announcement or the like is depicted.

Although the scene or the like may be applied to the flats of the rollers in a variety of fashions, it is convenient in many circiunstances to apply, and secure by adhesive or the like, a printed or separately prepared paper or the like sheet, such as a lithographed poster, in which case, after mounting on the surface formed by the exposed flats collectively, a knife or other sharp edge is run along the edges of the rollers to divide the poster up into the requisite separate sections. The rollers are then partially rotated and another announcement, poster or the like mounted similarly.

With such an arrangement and with an ordinary apparatus of this type, even \vitha great amount of time and trouble the severed edges peel up and engage d uring the operation or? the apparatus, and the apparatus in this respect is under continual rcpair and attention. To obviate this disadvantage, and for other reasons, as the apparatus is not necessarily employed with aihxed posters, the present invention provides an apparatus of the foregoing. type wherein the rollers may be relatively moved from their normal display and operating position. to a closer position, i. e. rollers practically touching each other." In this position. a poster may be ailixed and divided,

whereupon the rollers may be spaced apart to the normal operating position.

I Broadly, the said invention consists in mounting the rollers in upper and lower bearings, the equal distances between which are capable of expansion and contraction at will. Various methods of carrying this into effect are possible, and the appertaining parts and members of apparatus or this class would be varied to suit requirements. For instance, gearing of suitable construction is necessary for obtaining the intermittent partial rotation of the rollers, and in this connection it is observed that the gearing described in my co-pending application Serial No. 434,876 is typical of one of many that could be employed advantage ously with the present invention, although naturally some modification may be resorted to.

From the foregoing a general understanding of the invention will have been derived, and. a practical embodiment will now be described by way of example.

Such embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is an elevation with the front oi? the case removed, and partly in vertical section.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan on line 2, 2 01'? Figure 1.

According to the said invention, av case with an. open front or framework for displaying the proposed advertisements is employed, said case carrying a plurality of pivoted rollers Z) of triangular or other crosssection. These rollers are arranged parallel one with another, so that a fiat side of each. is simultaneously presented to the observer from the open front of the enclosing case. The Hat. sides of. the. rollers may be lettered or figured to show any special advertisement or design as hereinbetore described, and the simultaneous partial rotation of said rollers will change such lettering or design as a fresh series of flats is exposed. In order to produce the desired effect, it is necessary to provide driving mechanism having an intermittentv action, so that one set of flat faces, presenting one advertisement, may remain an appreciable time stationary, and then the following partialrevolution necessary to expose another set of letters or designs he. performed suddenly,

and be succeeded by another interval of rest, and so on. Such mechanism forms no part of the present invention, and may be of any known construction, so will not be further described.

The rollers are mounted between two vertical side frames 0 parallel therewith and secured to the apparatus casing in suitable fashion. Extending between said frames, one at the top and one at the bottom, are two guideways (I wherein is mounted in each an extensible and contractible member carying equally spaced bearings for the piv ots a of the rollers 6. Such member is operated exterior-1y of the apparatus as regards any particular position assumed thereby, and is of such a construction that Whatever its position the pivot bearings are always equidistantly spaced. The following device, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which is optional and may be replaced by any equivalent, fulfils requirements. In each guideway d, which is of requisite channel or other section, is disposed a lazy-tongs arrangement of links 7, the central line of piv ots of said linkage being the bearings for. the roller pivots 6-, with or without a ballrace for each pivot. The pivots or spindles of the upper ends of the rollers 72 extend completely through the hearings in the lazytongs f for connection with driving caring, as will be hereinafter described. ne end of both sets of lazy-tongs at g is secured to their respective guideway', framework or other fixture, whilst the other ends extend past the side frame a and are joined by a cross-piece h transverse to the guideways and more or less parallel with the rollers b. The cross-piece h, by its reciprocation towards or away from the rollers Z), adjusts the position of both sets of lazy-tongs f in unison, and consequently the spacing of the rollers b. The cross-piece is furnished with suitable actuating mechanism such as a centrally disposed screw i extending through the outer casing a, and carrying a winged or other nut j which takes a hearing against the exterior of the casing awhen turned to withdraw and insert the said screw. A spring may be employed if necessary.

The rollers Z) may be driven in the following fashion. Parallel with the guideways '41 aforesaid, and in the top of the casing a is mounted a common shaft Z, to which a requisite number of bevel wheels m are keyed, so as to be capable of sliding movement on the shaft, yet revolve with the Each of such bevel wheels drives a co-acting bevel wheel a fixed to the spindle e of the roller 79. When the rollers b are moved apart by the expansible bearing arrangement, the roller bevels a carry their coacting driver bevels m with them; and, vice versa, when the rollers b are closed toget-her, the driver bevels m are similarly carried, any yoke or connecting arrangement being utilized to ensure continuous gearing between both sets of bevels; for instance, an L-me1nber 0 carried fixedly by the roller spindle 6 can engage by a forked extremity an annular groove 7 on the boss of the corresponding driver bevel m.

The said driving shaft Z is driven by any suitable power through any convenient gearing, the intermittent gearing mentioned hereinbefore being interposed, and indicated diagrammatically at g. It is preferred, with a stationary apparatus, to employ an electric motor 1', located to one side of the ap aratus as the power unit.

l/l ith the lazy-tongs arrangement herein described, an infinite variation of spacings is possible. And, it will also be understood that various illuminating elfects may be employed for rendering the sign visible for night display.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent, and it will of course be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An advertising device of the class described including a casing, a frame within the casing, a plurality of display rollers arranged within the frame and having driving connections, and means for adjustably mounting the rollers in parallel relation consisting of lazy-tong members providing journals for the rollers, and a yoke member connecting with said lazy-tong members and having a manually adjustable connection exposed at the outside of said casing.

2. An advertising device of the class described including a casing, a frame within the casing, a plurality of rotatable display rollers arranged within the frame, adjustable bearing members arranged at the ends of said rollers for receiving the journals thereof, a driving gear carried by each roller, an intermittently operated driving shaft, sliding gears on said shaft meshing with said gears on the rollers, and a manually adjustable device for effecting simultaneously the adjustment of the opposite journal ends of said rollers.

3. A device for displaying advertisements,

consisting of a rectangular casing with an "said 'uidewa s and secured to the uideways at one end, a link from each of said lazy-tongs member extending past a vertical frame, a er0ss-piece joining the ends of such projecting links, means to reciprocate the crosspiece. a plurality of parallel flat-faced rollers mounted between and pivoted in the respective lazy-tongs, bevel gearing to drive the rollers means ensuring the continual mesh of the bevel gearing notwithstanding lateral movement, an intermittent mechanism, and a power unit, the Whole constructed, arranged and operating substantially as herein described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature hereto this 13th day of December, 1920.

EDWARD ALBERT THORNE. 

